


You can´t hide

by NYWCgirl



Category: White Collar
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hallucinations, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Consensual Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 18:45:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13417350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: Neal is chased, or is he?





	You can´t hide

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kanarek13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kanarek13/gifts).



> Kanarek13 made me this lovely art last year and I wrote a story for it for her birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

 

Neal waits with his back pressed against the concrete pillar. He listens, but it is completely still except for his heavy breathing. When he thinks it is safe, he starts moving again towards the next pillar. He studies his surroundings and when his eye meets the adjacent pillar he recoils when he sees the message.

_YOU CAN´T HIDE_

He swallows. Think, Neal. Don´t panic, but it is difficult to think clear headed with someone chasing him. He shivers, the water is almost up to his groin and his sleeves are also wet. It is already winter and he is shivering. Luckily it isn´t freezing or snowing. He is cold, but there is no shelter here. He does his best to get his breathing and shivering under control.

He needs to come up with a plan to get back home. Home. Wait, where is home? His breathing picks up again. No, he needs to focus. He can do this.

He listens if he is still being followed. He doesn´t hear anyone, so he carefully looks around the corner on the other side of the pillar. There is nobody. He slowly walks further.

He stops when he hears cars stopping. He completely freezes when the doors open and close, and he can hear people talking to each other. They sound anxious, they are probably looking for him.

He needs to be careful that they don´t find him. Wait, who are they? He can´t really remember, but that doesn´t matter, he needs to get himself to safety. Something must have happened because he can´t quiet remember who is after him, but he needs to make sure he stays out of their hands. Maybe he was hit over the head, or maybe he was in an accident? Maybe they are here to help him. But then again, they are probably not. Maybe a job went wrong. He needs to get in contact with Mozzie. He will know what to do and keep him safe.

When he hears the voices close in, Neal slowly wades through the water away from them, trying not to disturb the water too much. Maybe he can reach the shore and find a place to hide.

‘Neal! NEAL!’

Neal stops. He holds his breath. Did they hear him? He needs to be careful now.

‘Neal, come on, you are safe, we caught Woods. You can come out now. It´s OK Neal.’

Very crafty, making him think he is going to be rescued. He slowly starts waking again, doing his best not to make ripples in the water.

‘Do you see anything Jones?’

‘No.’

Neal can hear they are closing in on him, he will need to make a sprint for it once he reaches the shore. The water is getting less deep and he still does his best to make as little noise as he can. But he slips on the slippery rocks of the river bank and crouches down quickly. They must have heard him by now.

‘Jones, did you hear that?’

Flashlights point in his direction and Neal makes a dash for it, slipping again on the rocks, hurting his knees, but the adrenaline takes care of his pain and he jumps up again, making a dash for the bushes a couple of yards further. He can hear people running towards him and he keeps running, it is no use to try and hide now.

But the cold and the fatigue are getting to him and they gain on him. Neal can hear them come closer until he is suddenly tackled from behind.

He is not going back and he starts struggling. He has to make sure they can´t take him with them again. He calls out for help and he can hear them talking but the adrenaline surge makes it difficult to hear anything above his own heartbeat. He gets in a couple of good punches.

‘Neal, stop fighting, you are going to hurt yourself. You are safe.’

Neal knows it is a trick and he keeps resisting, but they are with too many and eventually they are able to pin him down. He keeps trying to get free, his life is depending on it.

Eventually his adrenaline fades and it is harder to resist his attackers so he stays still, hoping for a moment of weakness he can use. Others arrive and he is efficiently lifted and placed on something soft, he does his best to get free but they don´t let go and soon he is strapped in, bucking against the belts that keep him restrained. He cries out his frustration since he can´t get away from them. They are going to take him to that basement again. He wants to go home. Why can´t Peter find him?

‘PETER!’

He startles when a hand is placed on his forehead.

‘Neal?’

The voice sounds like Peter. He needs to find Peter, he needs to get out of here and find his way back to Peter.

‘PETER! HELP ME!

‘I am here Neal, you need to relax, let us take care of you.’

‘Please, let me go. Peter will find me.’

Neal starts struggling again and when he feels some give in the restraints, he increases his efforts again. Neal only knows he can´t let them take him again.

Suddenly there is a sting and within minutes the world seems to float away. All he can think about is that he lost, they have won.

 

* *  *

 

Waking up is hard work. Neal has a feeling that his eyelids are weighed down. They must have drugged him again. They always do that when he gets to mouthy or tries to escape. He is cold but this time they put a blanket over him. Maybe they don´t want him dead after all.

He tries to get more comfortable under the blanket, but that is when he notices that they restrained him to the bed. Figures, they won´t take any chance anymore.

‘Neal?’

Is that Peter´s voice? They must have upped him on some heavy shit this time if he is hallucinating.

‘Neal, can you open your eyes for me?’

Peter always has this annoying tone of voice that make you want to comply with what he is asking. Even this hallucination Peter. But he does his best to pry open his eyes.

‘Hey there. Welcome back.’

Peter´s tone of voice has changed, it is now soft and caring, it is his worried voice. Maybe Peter found him.

‘P’ter.’

Out of nowhere appear ice chips. He opens his mouth without question. His throat feels parched.

‘Are you tracking Neal? Do you know where you are?’

‘H’s’p’tel?’

Peter smiles.

‘Good, you had us worried. You are safe, OK. You got away.’

Neal wants to ask what Peter means by that, but he is just so tired and he can´t keep his eyes open. If Peter tells him that he is safe, it probably is OK. Even if this is a hallucination, it is nice to feel safe, so he lets himself be pulled back into sleep.

 

* *  *

 

The next time he wakes up, his eyes open all of a sudden. He startles the nurse who is doing something to his IV. He also notices that he is no longer restrained.

‘Hi Neal, how are you feeling?’

‘I have been better.’

‘Here, have some water.’

The nurse holds out a cup with a straw. Neal greedily drinks from it until he notices the water tastes funny. He let´s go of the straw.

‘You need to drink some more, if it stays down, we will get you something more substantial.’

Neal eyes the nurse wearily and she must have noticed.

‘Are you OK?.’

‘I´m fine.’

His heartrate is picking up and so is his breathing. What did she put in his IV? He needs to get it out. She turned to a laptop and is typing something so Neal tries to pull out the IV. His left arm and shoulder are sore and have limited range of motion, but he manages to pull out the IV. Maybe he can convinces her that whatever she put in the IV is working so he closes his eyes and stays still.

‘Neal, are you…?’

The nurse must be satisfied to see him sleeping, because she leaves the room.

Neal sits up and a wave of dizziness washes over him. He closes his eyes and swallows against his rebelling stomach. They he lets himself slide out of the bed. He slowly shuffles along the wall towards the door. He can´t believe she left the door cracked. So he only has to be careful that he is alone on the other side. He slowly opens the door and peeks through, but the corridor is empty. He quickly leaves the room, his heart thumping in his chest and throat. Just when he wants to enter the stair well, the door is pulled open and he runs into someone smaller than him.

‘Neal? What are you doing out of bed?’

‘Mozzie? Did they get you as well? Let´s go, we need to get away from here.’ Neal whispers urgently.

‘Neal, it´s Ok. Just…’

The moment Mozzie grabs his arm, Neal freaks and pulls free, just to run into someone who is standing behind him.

‘Neal? You are safe. You are in hospital.’

Neal stares at the person wide eyed. His hair is plastered against his head and he is panting like he has just run a marathon.

‘Peter, I don´t think Neal is completely tracking.’

‘Neal? It´s us, Peter and Mozzie. You are in the hospital. What happened? You were fine when I left you.’

‘I… I don´t know. What happened?’

‘Mozzie, can you get a doctor?’

Mozzie slowly leaves the stair well in an attempt not to spook Neal.

‘Neal, can you come with me? I promise everything is alright, OK?’

‘Are you real?’

Neal slowly extends his hand and Peter doesn´t move, allowing Neal to touch him and assess for himself that he is in fact real.

‘Convinced that I am real and here with you?’

Neal comes closer and leans into Peter, who wraps his arms around him.

‘You are safe, Neal. I promise. We will sort this out.’

Neal only nods against Peter´s chest. Peter can feel Neal´s too rapid heartbeat against his chest. He gently pulls Neal with him back into the corridor where Mozzie just appears with Neal´s doctor.

‘Hi Neal, I hear that you are not feeling too well and that the residual drugs are still acting up. Why don´t we go back to your room?’

Neal looks at Peter´s face, who only nods encouragingly.

They have Neal back in bed without problems and the doctor re-inserts the IV adding some tranquilizer to keep Neal more relaxed. His eyes are already drooping and the doctor explains that he will perform a new tox screen to see how much drugs are still in his system. But he is hopeful that over the next day, all the drugs will leave Neal´s body and that he can start resting more peaceful.

Peter and Mozzie keep vigil while Neal sleeps.

 


End file.
